WITH JUST 11 matches under his belt and seven goals, Zimbabwe international striker Tendai Ndoro’s scoring prowess has alerted the financially stable Tshwane giants Mamelodi Sundowns and SuperSport United in the South African Premiership.
SPORTS EDITOR
Having arrived at Mpumalanga Black Aces from Chicken Inn for a reported fee of $80 000, Ndoro, nicknamed Fire, has wasted no time in climbing up the Premier Soccer League (PSL) scorers’ charts and now stands just three goals from the leading scorer Bernard Parker of Kaizer Chiefs.
He sits a goal behind fellow Warriors striker Knowledge Musona of Kaizer Chiefs, who has eight, and pundits are already putting their money on him to claim the Lesley Manyathela Golden Boot Award. He has five more matches against Chiefs (last night), Sundowns, Polokwane City, Free State Stars and University of Pretoria to hit double figures.
Aces have risen to seventh place on the log standings with 37 points from 25 matches and are in line to qualify for the MTN8 next season if they maintain their current form.
What sets Ndoro (26), whose twin brother Takudzwa is actually a goalkeeper in Botswana and has been nominated for the Player of the Year award, is that Tendai arrived only in January in South Africa and had to wait for a month for a work permit before he could resume his normal business of scoring.
Standing at 172cm tall, Tendai has Real Madrid and Portugal skipper Cristiano Ronaldo as his best international player.
Yesterday’s edition of Soccer Laduma stated that the battle for Ndoro’s signature had begun between the two Tshwane giants.
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Sundowns have already signed Warriors’ Chan star and former Chicken Inn teammate Kuda Mahachi, whom they loaned to Highlanders. They also have striker Cuthbert Malajila, Khama Billiat and veteran midfielder Esrom Nyandoro while legendary Warriors skipper Peter Ndlovu is the team manager.
Aces coach Clive Barker has also hailed the qualities of Ndoro after a stunning brace against Ajax Cape Town in March.
“He has pace and has been able to get in between defenders. Also he is very quick and has the ability to hit the ball very well. He is going to score lots of goals,” said the former Bafana Bafana mentor.
Ndoro, a Zimbabwe international, made his PSL debut against SuperSport United in February after winning top goalscorer of the year award with 18 strikes.
In Warriors colours, he has four from eight matches and would come just as what the doctor ordered for coach Ian Gorowa when Zimbabwe begin their 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers next month. The draw will be conducted on April 27 in Cairo, Egypt.
